Just in Time
by Creature Of The Nite
Summary: Cody reveals he has built a time machine in his cabin, and takes the 'On Deck' gang  Him, Zack, Woody, London, Bailey, and Ms. Tutweiller  on a trip to the past. But when something goes wrong, they become lost in time...
1. Chapter 1

"…and that's how I learned you shouldn't buy smoke detectors at a garage sale," Ms. Tutweiller continued, "By the way, has anyone seen Cody?"

"He wasn't at breakfast," Zack said

"Last night he cut out date short," Bailey explained, "I think he was sick."

"Oh," Ms. Tutweiller nodded, "OK. Anyway, like I was saying…"

/

Bailey and Zack walked to Cody's cabin after school to give him his homework. Bailey knocked on the door.

"Cody, it's me!" Bailey said

"Bailey, I'm kind of busy right now!" Cody yelled

"We've got your homework!" Zack said

"Slide it under the door!"

"Cody, what's wrong?" Bailey asked, "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm just very busy!"

"Are you sure?" Zack asked, "I could get you some soup…"

Cody opened the door with the chain on. He was sweating, out of breath, and was wearing what he had on last night.

"Guys, really, I'm fine," he said, "I'm just working on something. Something big. If I stop now, I can't finish it."

"Is that why you ran out on our date?" Bailey asked

"Yeah. The idea came to me, and I knew I couldn't put it off."

Cody took the homework, and then shut the door.

"Let's just leave him to it," Zack said, "He gets like this sometimes. He'll be over it in two days, tops."

"OK, if you're sure…"

/

A week later, Cody was still shut away in his room, working hard. He had Bailey bring him his work, Zack bring him his food, and had London bring him strange packages by air mail. Woody had been sleeping in Zack's room, since Cody kicked him out. Everyone was getting tired of Cody's antics; Ms. Tutweiller missed having a smart person in class, Bailey missed her boyfriend, and Zack hated having to do his own homework. Zack had had enough; he walked to Cody's room, and banged on the door.

"Cody! Get out here you lousy…!" Zack began

Cody opened up the door; he was in his bathrobe.

"Hey bro," he said, smiling

"Cody, you're driving all of us mad!" Zack yelled, "We're sick of running chores for you!"

"I'm sorry," Cody said, "But I'm done now."

"Oh," Zack wished he hadn't yelled, "Sorry."

"It's cool. I just really need to take a shower, and then I'll show you and Bailey what I've been working on."

"Ok. I'll bring her by."

/

Cody stepped inside his shower, and let the hot water wash away all the grime and sweat he had accumulated from the week. He shoved his hair right beneath the shower head, and poured almost half a bottle of conditioner on his head. He had neglected his hair; he had neglected a lot of things.

"Oh yeah…" Cody moaned

He finished his shower twenty minutes later, and stepped out. He dressed himself in white shorts and a green polo shirt; he wanted to look nice for the grand unveiling. Once he stepped out of the bathroom, and he saw Bailey, Woody, London, Ms. Tutweiller, and Zack were there, waiting for him. Cody had hoped they would be longer; he wanted to clean up the place a bit.

"Hey guys," Cody smiled, "Can I get anyone a soda?"

"Can you just get to the point?" Woody groaned

"OK…"

Cody walked to the center of the room, where there was something under a tarpaulin. He yanked on the tarpaulin, and revealed what looked like a large wooden crate, about the size of a phone booth.

"Are you going to mail yourself somewhere?" Zack asked

Cody opened the crate, revealing a huge room. The gang didn't know what to say.

"Come on in," Cody said

They followed the genius inside. The room was circular with sienna walls, a white roof, and a Turkish rug on the floor. In the center of the room was a metal box, with four large wires extending out to the wall.

"It's larger inside," Ms. Tutweiller breathed

"Holy cow!" London exclaimed

"This is amazing," Bailey breathed, "And you only built it in a week?"

"Yeah, but this is only part of it," Cody explained, "I only used dimensional manipulation so I could have space for its true purpose: a time machine."

Bailey raised an eyebrow.

"OK, Cody, trans-dimensional engineering is one thing, but time travel…that's just science fiction."

"Would you like a demonstration?" Cody asked

"Sure…"

Cody reached to the metal box, and opened it up, revealing two levers and a red button.

"Come see this," Cody ordered, "You might need to know it."

Everyone crowded around the box.

"Don't step on the wires, they're what power the time circuits," Cody said quickly

"Sorry!" Ms. Tutweiller backed away

"This one sends us back in time," Cody tapped on the left lever, "This one sends us forward."

He tapped on the right lever.

"By how far?" Bailey asked

"I can only control the direction," Cody explained, "Sometimes it goes millennia, sometimes centuries, and sometimes it just goes seconds."

"Then how would you get back here?" Woody asked

"Ah, now that's where this comes in," Cody indicated the red button, "It returns to a fixed point in time, wherever I leave my time-marker, which is just outside."

Cody reached to the lever on the right.

"Do you want to take a trip?" he asked

No objections. Cody pulled the left lever, and the room changed; its color descended into ultra violet blue, and the room warped. Bailey and Zack were flattened; Cody was stretched wider than a car. Ms. Tutweiller started to look like she did in high school. London was split in two, Woody became thinner.

"I'm going to throw up!" Woody groaned

"Don't worry!" Cody said, "This is supposed to happen!"

The light changed from violet to red, and the warping changed. There were seven London's, Woody looked anorexic, Ms. Tutweiller began morphing into a killer whale, and Zack started to look like he was made of yarn.

"Cody…!" he wailed

Suddenly, it stopped. Things were back to normal.

"Whew!" Cody wiped his forehead

Bailey shook her head, "Wow, doing that really clears your nasal passages!"

"Can we take a look outside?" Zack asked

"Hold on…" Cody reached to a hidden compartment, and took a silver gun out from it, "Laser gun. For emergencies only."

Woody walked to the door, and opened it. To his surprise, outside was a Roman marketplace.

"Cody!" Bailey exclaimed, "How did we get to Rome? Can this thing fly?"

"It's got a device that locks on to the nearest mass of people."

"What stops us from landing in a brick wall?" asked Ms. Tutweiller

"I made about a billion safety features," Cody continued, "It can only land on solid ground in space occupied by air."

/

The three of them walked around the market, observing the citizens in togas, merchants selling vases and jewelry, and people speaking Latin.

"Cody, you're a genius!" Bailey squealed

"What are you going to do with the machine?" Zack asked, "You could sell it for billions. Hey! We could buy the ship and make Mr. Moesby work as a towel boy!"

"The machine's for scientific research only," Cody replied

"Well, if you want to enter it in the science fair, I guarantee you'll get an 'A'," Ms. Tutweiller said

Suddenly, there was a loud bang. The gang turned to see a volcano erupt.

"This isn't Rome!" Cody croaked, "This is Pompeii!"

At once, they ran back to the time machine; smoke was already filling the marketplace, ash was raining down on them. Cody took out a special key, and unlocked the crate.

"Quick! Press the button!" Cody ordered, slamming the door

London flipped open the metal box, and pressed the red button. To Cody's shock, nothing happened.

"I don't get it!" Cody said, "It's supposed to automatically home in on the silver watch in my quarters!"

"Oh no!" Bailey gasped

"What did you do?" Cody exclaimed

"I was mad at you when we came into your quarters," Bailey said nervously, "So I…I took your watch. It was the only thing I could think of doing to hurt you."

Cody's face turned from confused to furious; he lunged at Bailey, attempting to claw her eyes out. Suddenly, Zack leapt to the future lever, and they began warping and discoloring. Ms. Tutweiller turned to stone, Cody caught on fire, Bailey started shrinking, Woody and London fused together, and Zack began getting older. Then the process stopped.

"We all need to remain calm," Zack said, "Bailey didn't mean to do any harm. Cody, you need to think about what to do."

"OK," Cody took a deep breath, "You're right. I'm sorry Bailey. This is a complicated machine."

"But you can get us back, can't you?" Zack asked

"I can't promise anything," Cody said, "Our only choice is to drift from past to future; we might get lucky."

"Well…shall we take a look at where we've landed?" Bailey suggested

"OK," Cody took back his laser gun from Zack

"We're probably going to see a lot of strange and foreign places," Ms. Tutweiller said

"Drift from time to time," Woody added

"Meeting a lot of weird-o's," London added

Bailey felt terrible about what she had done.

"I'm sorry, Cody," she said

"It's alright," he replied, with a little smile, "I'm actually looking forward to it…"

/

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

/

/

/

The gang stepped out of Cody's time machine, into an alleyway that wasn't that un-similar to a city in Zack and Cody's time. There were brick wall buildings and tar roads, but there was something futuristic about it. Small bolts of lightning fired from phone pole to phone pole, and there was a dumpster humming and letting out steam. Some cars flew overhead.

"Awesome sauce…" Woody breathed

"When do you think we are?" Bailey asked

Cody picked up a newspaper from the ground. It was made of a thin, durable plastic, and seemed to be moving.

"August fifth, two-thousand-two hundred-and-seventy-three," Cody read, "President Connors announces a zero tolerance policy on the French-Chinese annexation of Hawaii."

"About time," Ms. Tutweiller muttered

/

They strolled out into the main city, seeing the wonders of the future. The skyline indicated they were in New York.

"They rebuilt the twin towers," Zack noted, "They look nice."

"Yeah, but why did they build a bridge between them?" Bailey asked

A flying car descended onto the bridge, slowing down to land. People walked the streets, greeting each other in a friendly way. They were all nice, no one was arguing or fighting, there were no vagrants lying in alleys or people trying to hock stolen goods.

"Excuse me," two policemen walked up to them, "Are you wearing those period costumes for a charity or something?"

The policemen were genuinely curious, not intimidating like the policemen of the twenty-first century.

"Yeah, the American Cancer Foundation," Cody said quickly

The policeman was puzzled.

"What's cancer?" he asked

"Isn't that a disease they had in the olden days?" the other policeman asked

"Uh…yeah, could be."

/

The policemen gave them a small donation, a handful of black coins with green stripes, then resumed their patrol.

"Nice guys," Zack said, "What do you think we should do with their credits?"

"Let's get some food," Cody suggested, "I haven't eaten since I built the time machine."

Cody bought an assortment of snacks from a street vendor; the gang sat down to eat them. They had Nachos covered with a green sauce, L-shaped hot dogs, chicken-fried steak sandwiches, and coffee flavored cokes.

"Wow!" London exclaimed, taking a bite of the hot dog, "This is better than what New York Tipton serves!"

"You mean the Tipton hotel in New York?" Bailey asked

"No, my step-brother," London said, "He's a pretty good cook, but this is better!"

"Zack, don't chew with your mouth open," Ms. Tutweiller said

"Yes, Queen Tut…" Zack groaned

/

After their lunch, the team went for a walk around the city. Their first stop was to a clothing store, where thanks to the aid of holograms they could try on the futuristic clothes. After that, they went to a Radio Hut, which oddly enough was a merger of Radio Shack and Pizza Hut. Ms. Tutweiller was tempted to go to a museum, but Cody said it wasn't a good idea to learn too much about one's own future.

/

"This looks like a utopian society," Bailey said, sitting on a park bench

"I wouldn't say utopian," Cody said, "But yeah, it seems like time travel won't be so bad."

Suddenly, a strange craft shot above the city; it was shaped like a pyramid, and had several sharp and threatening devices on it. One of the devices aimed at a tall skyscraper, and blasted it to smithereens.

"They're here!" a woman yelled

He fired a flare into the air from his rifle. An alarm sounded, and a foghorn blared. People panicked, heading for houses and subway stations, anywhere for cover. The pyramid ship continued to attack the city; it looked hopeless.

"Back to the time machine!" Cody yelled

"Obviously!" Zack yelled

/

They made their way to the alley where they left the time machine, dodging fire, lasers, and panicking civilians. Cody unholstered his laser gun, just to be safe. When they got to the time machine, there was a pyramid hovering right over it. Suddenly, a figure appeared out of nowhere. Grey skin, giant eyes, black suit, and terrifying glare. He held his arm to the time machine, and a threatening device on his wrist began to activate. Before it could do anything, Cody lifted up his gun, and fired a blast of blue light-energy directly at the creature's stomach…

/

"OK, that was too weird!" London said, slamming the door

"We'd better get out of here," Zack reached for the controls

He pulled on the one that sent them back in time. This time, they were all stretched out and flattened. Then they were back to normal.

"Why does it do that?" Bailey groaned

"It's complicated," Cody said

"We've got time," Woody said, "Nothing but time."

There was a brief silence.

"Nice one, Woody," Zack said

"Yeah, perfect timing," London said

"I've been waiting for a time to say it," Woody grinned

"You nailed it," Ms. Tutweiller said

"Um, do you guys want to know or what?" Cody asked

"Sure sure…"

/

"You see," Cody was drawing on a chalkboard, "Imagine this is regular space, our universe."

He drew a horizontal line on the chalkboard.

"OK," Zack nodded, understanding

"Now this is hyperspace,"

Cody drew a squiggly line beneath the horizontal line.

"Hyperspace is the space hidden right beneath regular space," Cody continued, "When we time travel, we enter hyperspace and re-enter our space, but at a completely different point."

He drew a line from the straight line that went into the squiggly line then went back to the straight line at a different point.

"But a time machine going into hyperspace isn't like a plane going into air. Things are different in hyperspace, the laws of physics don't apply. But the good news is, once we go back into regular space, things snap back to normal. When I push the lever, it pulls us into hyperspace, but only for ten seconds, tops."

"Then what stops the machines from going all weird in hyperspace?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"Trans-dimensional engineering toughens it up," Cody explains, "It protects the inner machinery."

/


	3. Chapter 3

Bailey, Ms. Tutweiller, and London stepped outside; they were in a desert landscape, next to a cave.

"Wow," Bailey breathed, "Look at the night sky. It's beautiful."

"Yeah," Ms. Tutweiller agreed, "So peaceful. So tranquil, so…"

"Coming through!" Woody pushed past the girls, "Zack, over here!"

Cody, in the time machine, pulled back the flap of the Turkish rug, and opened up the trapdoor. He pulled out a black bag, handed it to Zack, who threw it out to Woody. Woody caught it, and placed it on the ground. Cody took out another, passed it to Zack, and Zack threw it to Woody.

"What are those?" Bailey asked

"Sleeping bags," Woody unzipped one of them, "We're camping outside tonight."

"Out here?" London exclaimed, "Isn't there a hotel nearby?"

"It's the Paleolithic era," Cody said, walking out, "We'll be lucky if they have fire here."

"How can you tell?" Bailey asked

"I took some basic readings," Cody replied, "Atmosphere and population density readings conclude that we're somewhere 100,000 years before our time."

Bailey looked suspiciously at Cody; he seemed to know a lot more than he was letting on. The fact that he built a time machine that was larger indoors should have tipped her off, but something blinded her to it.

"Bailey, may I speak to you inside?" Cody asked

"Sure," Bailey nodded

/

The two of them stepped inside Cody's time machine.

"Do you still have the watch?" Cody asked

"Yes…" Bailey sighed

Bailey handed it to him. Cody slipped it on her wrist.

"I want you to keep this, so if anything happens to you, I know I can find you," he explained

"Cody, that's so sweet."

"Yeah…listen, don't tell anyone, otherwise they'll get jealous."

"Got it,"

/

The two of them set outside to find Zack wrestling with his sleeping bag and Ms. Tutweiller furiously attempting to start a fire. She was banging rocks together, trying to get a spark. She then gave up, throwing the rocks down.

"Rrrrg…I need a cigarette," she groaned

"Oh, here," London handed her a lighter

Ms. Tutweiller gave her an angry glare.

"Oh, sorry, do you prefer matches?" London offered her a matchbox, "Or maybe a flint & steel?"

Ms. Tutweiller was too angry to argue. She took the lighter, and started a fire.

"That's better," Zack said, struggling with his sleeping bag

/

The six of them sat on their sleeping bags. Woody was attempting to tell a ghost story.

"…and then, she came through the floor…" he said

"How did she do that?" Bailey asked

"Didn't I say she was died?" Woody asked

"No."

"Well she did. And then, she hit her husband with his laptop…"

"Why?"

"You know, I said she hated that he was a computer salesman."

"You said she hated that he was a shoe salesman!"

"Dang it!"

/

"Well, I'm going to go to bed," Zack said, slipping into his sleeping bag, "Wake me up if any girls come."

Everyone began to fall asleep. Cody was the last; he didn't want people to see what he was doing. Stealthily, he made his way inside the time machine, and unscrewed the time control levers and the red button using his multipronged screwdriver. Carefully, he pocketed them.

/

The next morning…

/

"Oh my god!" Zack yelled

It was still early. He woke everyone up; they scrambled out of their sleeping bags.

"Where did it go?" Ms. Tutweiller exclaimed

"Alright, no one panic," Cody said, "I knew this might happen, so I…"

"What if it fell through time?" Bailey croaked

"Are we trapped?" Woody groaned

"I'll never see Marion again!" Ms. Tutweiller cried

Cody sighed, took his laser gun out, and blasted it into the air. Everyone stopped yelling.

"OK, first of all, I thought there might be cavemen or something here, so I took the controls off of the ship," Cody explained, "No one could have taken it. Secondly, the ship can't just 'fall through time'. And third…"

Cody took his cell phone out, and an arrow appeared on the screen.

"We can track it down," Cody continued, "Everyone relax."

/  
The team rolled up their sleeping bags, and went out to find the time machine. Cody's tracking device turned out to be very accurate, leading them to a small settlement. The time machine was in the center of the settlement; cavemen, primitives in leather loincloths carrying spears, were bashing the time machine with clubs, attempting to get it open. Zack was just about ready to tear them apart.

"Don't," Cody held him back, "They can't harm it. I've got a plan."

/

Cody walked up to the tribe, and made a low guttural growling noise. He got their attention. They turned to him; all of them were bigger than Cody, in muscle and tallness. Cody produced London's cigarette lighter from his jacket pocket, opened it up, and lit it. The cavemen backed away. Cody closed the lighter, and then lit it again. He indicated the time machine. Then he indicated the lighter. He indicated himself and the lighter, then the cavemen and the time machine. He indicated himself and the time machine, then the cavemen and the lighter. The cavemen nodded, agreeing. Cody handed them the lighter, and then walked into the time machine.

"Come on guys," Cody said

They nervously walked through the tribe, carrying their sleeping bags with them. The gang exchanged nervous looks with the tribesmen. They all viewed each other with the same contempt, seeing the other at the inferior life form.

/

London, as usual, closed the door. Cody was screwing the time controls back in.

"That's an interesting screwdriver," Bailey commented

"Built it myself," Cody replied, "And some custom screws. I couldn't risk any jerk with a screwdriver jacking the CHARIOT."

"The what?" Bailey asked

"It's what I've named my machine," Cody replied, "CHARIOT. Cody's Hyperspace Adventuring Roomy Inside Overwhelming Transport."

"When we get back, you're getting extra-credit in English," Ms. Tutweiller said

/

Woody and Cody loaded the sleeping bags back into the storage compartment, and then locked it.

"So does anyone need to sleep some more, or can we leave?" Cody asked

"We're all wide awake," London said, "Let's am-scray."

Cody nodded, and pulled on the future lever. The transformations began; everyone began changing into paper.

"I'm definitely not running with scissors!" Zack groaned

Suddenly, Ms. Tutweiller unfolded at her middle, revealing a teaching degree; London turned into an origami swan, Zack became a paper airplane, Woody unfolded into scratch-and-sniff card, and Bailey became her FDA membership card. Cody started to unfold, revealing…

"No!" he yelled

Cody closed himself; he wasn't ready to show that just yet. Suddenly, they all reverted to normal.

"Ms. Tutweiller, you graduated from the University of the Caribbean?" Woody asked

"There was a misunderstanding at my first university!" Ms. Tutweiller protested, "And Zack, don't think I didn't notice you trying to throw yourself across the room!"

"Cody, why did you panic like that?" Bailey asked, "What did you become that you couldn't show us?"

"You're not ready to know," Cody replied

"You know, you've been acting strange lately," Bailey said, "This time machine, the spatial engineering, the way you communicated with those cavemen…"

"Bailey, I advise you not to inquire to this matter," Cody replied, coldly

/

/

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

Cody opened the door, and everyone walked out; the CHARIOT had parked behind a wooden building.

"Huh…" Cody checked his watch, "This looks good. Nice atmosphere, not too far…"

"Hands up," said someone in a British accent

Cody turned around, seeing seven redcoat soldiers pointing guns at him.

"Oh boy…"

/

Ms. Tutweiller stepped forward.

"Um, now, listen," she said, nervously, "I'm the teacher of these kids…"

"Madam, a lady in your garb should not be around children," one redcoat said, "You should get back to the saloon."

"Oh, I'm not a showgirl. Well, I used to be…actually, there was that one time last year…"

"Does she have papers?" one redcoat indicated London, "May I remind you that her kind aren't allowed here?"

Cody unholstered his gun, pushing past Ms. Tutweiller.

"Two things I can't stand," he growled, "Racism, and guns. And you're really pushing me."

The redcoats laughed at him.

"Ruddy 'ell kid, what do you call that?" one of them tapped Cody's gun, "Some kind of copper contraction, what not?"

Cody sneered.

"Copper?"

He stuck his gun on one of the guns, and fired a single shot. The gun melted away.

"Retreat!" the redcoat yelled, "Witchcraft!"

/

"Thanks for standing up for me, Cody," London said

"Anytime," Cody holstered his pistol, "Now, shall we see where we are?"

Cody led them to the other side of the wooden building, revealing a bustling street near a shipyard. They were in the colonial era, obviously, but where?

"Have we been here before?" London asked, "It seems familiar."

"That tree especially," Cody noted

Zack snapped his fingers. Cody, Zack, and London said simultaneously:

"The Tipton!"

/

"So this is where The Tipton was built?" Woody asked

"Yeah," Cody nodded, "Right there."

He pointed to the tree.

"A few years back, we staged a protest there," Zack explained

"I think we could use this to our advantage," Bailey said, "We could leave a message on a tree, something that you would see."

"Like 'don't let Bailey take the watch'," Zack suggested

/

Cody and Bailey moved towards the tree, attempting to blend in. There were three men sitting in front of it, talking, planning, and plotting. Cody knew it could be disastrous if he interrupted them.

"So what should I write?" Cody asked

"Just write 'don't put the time-marker in the watch'," Bailey said

"No, that's too specific," Cody replied, "I need something that will steer me around it."

"What about 'don't ever build a time machine'?"

"That could work…"

Cody adjusted his laser gun to the lowest setting, and began to write a message in the tree.

"What are you doing?" Bailey asked, "That's not English."

"It's a secret language Zack and I made up when we were eight," Cody explained, "It's a twin thing."

/

Bailey and Cody returned to the CHARIOT.

"Listen, guys, I'm going to make some upgrades to the ship," Cody explained, "If you want to go exploring or something, that's fine."

"Can I stay with you?" Bailey asked

"Sure."

"Can I take your laser gun?" Zack asked

"No!" everyone yelled

/

Cody was using everyone's gadgets to improve the ship, while Bailey watched with fascination. Coming from a small town in the middle of nowhere, science fascinated her, which she suspected was the reason she was attracted to Cody. The genius used cell phones, MP3 players, that kind of stuff. His goal was to set up a mobile communications center, so wherever they were they could communicate. Cody took out the portable TV he kept in the storage compartment; it was very old, having knobs and rabbit ear antennas. But it had a screen, nonetheless. After hooking it up to the time control box, it began displaying information about the ship. The people counter, the location of the time marker, atmospheric conditions, and the re-entry anti-space occupier. With the PDA hooked in, anyone who called Ms. Tutweiller would be put on speaker throughout the entire ship, which considering how big the ship actually was quite impressive.

/

Ms. Tutweiller, London, Zack, and Woody 'borrowed' some period clothes from a store, and went around town.

"Remember, we're only visitors to this time period," Ms. Tutweiller said, "So no paradoxes, no self-fulfilling prophecies, and Zack, please don't become your own great-great-grandfather."

"Do we have to do a report on this when we get back?" Woody asked

"Excellent idea, Woody," Ms. Tutweiller said

When Ms. Tutweiller wasn't looking, Zack punched Woody.

/

The gang went into an old-fashioned tea-room. There were a variety of characters in there: chandlers, fletchers, street sweepers, sawbones, and redcoats. Zack eyed his tea with disdain.

"I don't know whether to drink this or toss it in the harbor," he said

One of the guys in the room looked up at Zack then whispered something to his two friends.

"Can we dress up as Indians while doing it?" one of them said

"Sure, why not?"

"Zack, what did I say about paradoxes?" Ms. Tutweiller asked, sternly

"To…not do them."

/

The CHARIOT was looking different; the portable TV sat in front of the time controls. The rabbit ears were bent into a complicated shape, and Ms. Tutweiller's PDA was fused to the side.

"OK, good day's work," Cody said, "Let's call the gang back."

Cody dialed in a sequence of numbers on Ms. Tutweiller's PDA. It was the frequency for Zack's cell phone.

"Time to come back," Cody announced

"Roger."

/

The team entered the CHARIOT, and the girls changed out of their period costumes.

"So, how did it go?" Cody asked

"Zack inspired the Boston Tea Party," Woody said

"Dude!" Zack hit Woody, "Loudmouth!"

"Cody, I think we'd better leave before we cause anymore damage," Ms. Tutweiller said

"Yeah," Cody nodded, "Is everyone here?"

"Let me check," Zack said, "Because The Laser Won't Cut Zebras."

"Huh?" Bailey asked

"It's a memory trick," Zack replied, "BTLWCZ: Bailey, Tutweiller, London, Woody, Cody, Zack."

"Clever," Ms. Tutweiller said

"Do I get extra credit?" Zack asked

"Not as much as Cody."

/

Cody pulled the lever to go to the future.

"Oh no…" he gasped

He sent everyone into a state of panic.

"What is it?" Bailey asked

"The thing is…I didn't write down the message on the tree. I was too afraid to interfere with time."

"That's alright," Bailey said

"No big deal," Woody shrugged

"So what did you write?" Zack asked

"The first thing that came into my head; long story short, I accidentally told my younger self the base formula for time travel…"

/

The CHARIOT entered Hyperspace. Zack changed to jelly; Ms. Tutweiller began to fade into smoke, and Bailey melted like a plastic bowl in a microwave. Cody turned into an action figure, oddly enough; his clothes were plastic sculpted, his laser gun was in his hand with a plastic missile in it. Woody became thin and tangled, forming into a Slinky. London twisted like a Twizzler. Then they all reverted back to normal.

"Let's see where we are," Cody said, "Might get lucky this time…"


	5. Chapter 5

/

/

/

The CHARIOT door opened, revealing a giant glass dome. Inside, it had luscious green grass and a freshwater river; outside, there was a barren desert landscape.

"No way…" Cody breathed

Everyone walked outside; the air was very harsh, it was incredibly hot, and there was a nauseating smell.

"We shouldn't stay out here for too long," Cody said, "I'm detecting some radiation spikes."

From his jacket, Zack produced a small pair of binoculars. He looked forward at the domed city.

"I think there's an entrance," Zack said

Cody looked through the binoculars.

"I might be able to open it, if you're up for it."

"Let's roll."

/

The entrance was surprisingly difficult; there was no keyhole, or even a keypad, and the doors appeared to be thick steel.

"Cody, do you think your laser gun could do it?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"I don't want to break it," Cody tapped on the door, "It might be sealed for a reason."

"Did you try knocking?" London asked

Cody looked at her with a bewildered expression.

"London, we're far in the future. Farther than we've ever been. I'm pretty sure it needs more than…"

London knocked on the door. It automatically opened, revealing a white room.

"Please enter," an electronic voice said

"Should we?" Cody asked

"Do you have any idea what this is?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"My guess is, it's a safety compound," Cody theorized, "Somewhere you can go after the end of the world. If that's the case, it should be perfectly alright."

/

They stepped inside the white room, and the doors closed. Compartments in the walls opened.

"Please deposit all items of clothing in the compartments," the voice ordered

"What?" Ms. Tutweiller exclaimed

"It's so you don't get your clothes wet during decontamination," the voice said

"Are you a pre-recorded message, or is someone there was a microphone?" Cody asked

"Please deposit all items of clothing in the compartments," the voice repeated

/

Reluctantly, the team took their clothes off, keeping their underwear. It wasn't a big deal for them; they had been through worse together.

"Hey Ms. Tutweiller, when did you get that tattoo?" Woody asked

"What tattoo?" Ms. Tutweiller hastily covered her lower back

"The…one on your ankle?" Woody said

"Oh…" Ms. Tutweiller laughed nervously, "Yeah, I knew that…"

"Decontamination stage one."

Suddenly, powerful jets of water sprayed everyone.

"Ah!" Woody had been standing right in front of one

"Stage two."

Suddenly, red lights in the room turned on. Cody saw dirt underneath his fingernails disappearing.

"Stage three."

High powered air blasters came on, drying everyone almost instantly.

"Thank you for cooperating. Have a nice day."

The compartments opened up, revealing the clothes that the gang had been wearing. One small difference: they had all turned white.

"Super-cleaning," Cody concluded

/

Once they dressed, the decontamination room opened up, letting them inside the dome. People in there were dressed in white versions of a variety of clothes, and appeared to be having fun. There were no signs of violence, conflict, machines, or technology in sight, except for a food dispenser in one wall.

"A peaceful commune," Cody concluded, "Man has evolved to the point where he is served by self-sufficient machines, thus eliminating the need for violence."

"It's so beautiful," Ms. Tutweiller said, "I just want to…"

Suddenly, there was a loud foghorn. Everyone got up, and began walking towards the river. In the center of it arose a pyramid identical to the one that had attacked 2273 New York. A door opened up, revealing one of the aliens.

"Oh no!" Bailey croaked

"Keep calm," Cody said, "We don't know if they're hostile."

The alien took out a deadly looking weapon, and pointed it at the nearest human.

"Good enough for me!" Zack said

Cody pulled out his laser gun, and fired a continuingly firing beam at the alien; the alien ducked, and Cody sliced off the top of the pyramid.

"Run!" Cody yelled

They headed to the exit; Cody pressed a button on the handle of his gun, and a blade extended from the barrel. He jammed it in between the doors, and twisted them open.

"Open this door!" Cody demanded

"I am not permitted to."

"Open this door, or I blast it open!"

The doors slid aside. The gang ran out, heading to the CHARIOT. One of the flying pyramids blasted out of the ground, chasing after them. Cody downed it with a single blast of his laser gun.

/

No one said anything until they were all inside and Cody had hit the 'past' lever.

"That was too close," London said

She collapsed into the armchair that Cody had dug out from the storage compartment. They began to morph, but they were too anxious to notice what happened. It then stopped.

"They succeeded in conquering the earth," Zack concluded

"What was going on there?" Bailey asked

"They're breeding them," Cody had a inquisitive look in his eye, "Obviously, a form of weapons testing. Possibly a food source."

"Uh…" Bailey shuddered

/

Cody opened the door; for a split second, he thought they had landed in front of a fish tank. Then suddenly, water blasted out at him. He concluded that they had landed at the bottom of the sea.

"I am suing that depth gauge company!" Cody groaned

Zack and Bailey ran to the door, attempting to close it; water was still flowing into the CHARIOT, at an alarming rate.

"It's OK, I've got it," Cody said

He reached for the past lever, and pulled it as hard as he could.

"Why isn't it working?" London asked

"I forgot it doesn't work if the door won't close."

Cody, Ms. Tutweiller, London and Woody all tried to get the door to close. The situation was getting worse; water was already up to their knees.

"We've only got once chance," Cody said, "We won't be able to close the door until the pressure is equalized."

"We have to let it flood completely?" Bailey asked

"It's the only way," Cody replied, "But there's a chance that the flooding would interfere with the electrical systems."

"What choice do we have?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

/

The CHARIOT filled up with water. The gang floated to the top.

"OK, Bailey, since you can hold your breath the longest, you get the door," Cody instructed

"Got it."

"I'll get the controls. Everyone else, you just stay up here."

/

Soon, the CHARIOT was completely flooded. Bailey managed to close the door, and Cody dived to the controls. He pulled the lever for the past, and they time travelled. Bailey could see that they were changing, but couldn't quite make it out, since the water was so cloudy. It was the longest ten seconds of her life, her lungs were about to burst. As soon as it was over, she opened the door, and all the water went pouring out. Everyone was dragged out by the current; they went shooting out onto where the CHARIOT had landed.

"Urgh…" Zack groaned, "OK, Bailey, ten points for saving our lives, but minus several million for door opening moderation!"

"What are you doing here?" came a voice in an urban vernacular

Zack rubbed his eyes, seeing a familiar face standing in front of him.

"Mr. Moesby!" Zack gasped, "We did it! We're back on the ship! We…wow, good night sky tonight."

Everyone else looked around. They realized where they were.

"This isn't the Tipton cruise ship!" Cody gasped, "This is the Starship Tipton!"

/

DUN DUN DUN!

/

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

/

/

/

Zack picked himself up; there was a crowd of people around him, the crew of the Starship Tipton.

"I demand do know how you got here," Mr. Moesby said

Mr. Moesby grabbed Zack by the collar; Zack shoved him, knocking him down. A security guard that looked suspiciously like Kirby advanced towards Zack. Cody took out his laser gun, pointing it at future-Kirby, and held Zack away with his spare arm.

"Hold it," Cody said, "Everyone calm down. It's just a misunderstanding."

"And who are you?" Mr. Moesby asked

"Don't you remember us?" Zack asked, "We met you guys a while back."

"I have no recollection of that," Mr. Moesby said

"I thought you made this up?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"Zack, you told her?" Cody asked

"I just told her that a robot that looked like Mr. Moesby had to bring us to the future because Zerk locked the ship on a course to Anterian space…"

"I've got to write that down!" Zerk said

Cody punched his brother.

"Stop creating paradoxes!"

/

"So how did you guys get here?" Future-Kirby asked

The gang was being taken down to the brig for questioning. The CHARIOT and Cody's laser gun had been taken away.

"For the last time, I built a hyperspace adventuring transport," Cody explained

"But that makes no sense," a man who looked suspiciously like Arwin said, "There's a one-in-a-trillion chance that a ship can get through the hyper-shield surrounding this ship."

"We randomly enter and exit hyperspace," Cody explained

"Oh, that is not hyperspace travel!" future-Arwin groaned, "It's so primitive!"

"Would you call the Wright brothers' plane primitive?" Cody asked

"Yes."

"Well then you're just un-American!" Cody argued

"Un-American? I'm from Venus!" future-Arwin protested

"I thought you said you were from Uranus?" future-Kirby asked

"That was a joke I told at the Christmas party!" future-Arwin groaned

"Well it wasn't funny!"

"Why do you continuously undermine me?"

"I don't undermine you!"

"This is because you didn't like my mother, isn't it?"

"I liked her just fine! Now your cousin on the other hand…"

Cody spun around, spin-kicking future-Kirby in the face, knocking him down.

"Hey!" future-Arwin warned

He tried to grab Cody. Cody grabbed the man's arm, and flung him into the wall.

"Aren't you a little old to be playing ninja?" groaned future-Arwin

"I'm quite childish for my age," Cody grinned

/

The gang proceeded to find the CHARIOT. Cody used the tracker on his cell phone. It was a bit difficult since the future-technology on the starship interfered with it.

"Now remember, don't talk to strangers," Ms. Tutweiller said

"We know…" everyone groaned

"This is serious, guys. London, what do you say if a stranger says 'would you like a coke or a sprite or something'?"

"I'd say, 'have you got anything stronger'?" London replied

"OK, you get a zero for the day!"

"Ms. Tutweiller, you can be such a teacher!" Bailey sighed

"That's my job. And besides, I'm a good teacher."

"You gave me detention for stuff I didn't do!" Zack argued

"When did I ever do that?"

"Remember that twenty-page report you assigned last week?"

"Yeah?"

"I didn't do it, and you gave me detention!"

/

The CHARIOT was stored in the upper decks of the cargo bay; it was sort of a lost and found. Weird artifacts of alien origin were all around them.

"Hey, can we keep this?" Woody asked, picking a strange glowing orb

"No!" Cody lunged at him

He was too late. The device activated, and the surroundings changed. In front of the gang was an audience sitting on metal bleachers, and above them there was a frame holding up spotlights. Two cameras were in front of them.

"Guys, the script!" a man sitting in a folding chair said

Woody accidentally activated the device again, and things returned to normal.

"Woody, ask me before you break the fourth wall," Cody said, breathing a sigh of relief.

/

They walked inside the CHARIOT.  
"Larger indoors never gets old," London said

Cody walked to the time controls, and dialed a series of numbers on the PDA. To everyone's surprise, two hidden doors opened up at the other end of the CHARIOT.

"I just completed the formula for these," Cody explained, "Spare rooms. Now we won't have to do anymore camping."

"I call top bunk!" Woody raised his hand

"There are no bunks!" Cody groaned, "Woody, can you go ten seconds without humiliating yourself?"

Zack looked at his watch. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two…Woody's pants fell down.

"Dangit!" he complained

"Zack, didn't you tell me they had a time machine on this ship?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"Yes they did!" Cody jumped up, "We can…"

Suddenly, an image flickered on the TV, of one of the aliens that attacked New York.

"Enemies of the Thraxicor!" the alien growled, "We have tracked you through time. Prepare to be destroyed!"

/

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

/

/

/

Suddenly, the ship began shaking, as if it was under attack. The Thraxicor meant business.

"OK, we have to get going!" Cody said

"What about the ship's time machine?" Bailey asked

"We can only hope that we'll find another one," Cody reached for the controls, but hesitated

The ship shook again; more attacks.

"Do it!" Zack ordered

Cody tugged the future-lever, and they were off. They began twisting, shifting to a liquid-metal substance, turning into silver swirls…then it ended.

"Wow…" Cody breathed

/

Suddenly, the entire CHARIOT tilted on its side; the gang was thrown to the far side of the wall.

"Ow…" Woody, who was on the bottom of the pile, moaned

"Cody!" London exclaimed

"It's my laser gun…!" he said quickly

"I wasn't complaining…"

/

The gang all separated. It was hard because the ship was bobbing up and down.

"Where could we have landed?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

Cody looked up at the door, and blasted it open with his laser gun's force beam setting.

"I think I can make it up there," Cody presumed

"How?" Zack asked

"Well, I anticipated this moment."

Cody threw his Swiss army knife up at the door, hitting a loose wall panel. It opened up, and a rope ladder fell down out of it.

"That'll be a tough climb," Woody said

Cody secured himself to the ladder then gave it a little tug. Suddenly, he shot up to the top of the CHARIOT, and climbed out. He had built it with the same mechanism that was used in modern seatbelts.

"We're floating on the ocean!" Cody announced

"I thought it couldn't do that?" Bailey asked

"Maybe we reached a point in the future when the entire world is covered by water," Bailey guessed

"I hated that movie," Woody said

"What?" Cody exclaimed, "How could you not like it? That guy's boat was awesome!"

"Yeah, but it was too long!" Woody replied

"Oh, I am so sick of people hating movies because of their length!" Cody groaned, "What, you can't pause it halfway through then finish it later?"

"That's like watching two movies!" Woody argued

"You watched three Harry Potter movies in a row last…Woody, just come up here so I can yell at you!"

/

Suddenly, five Thraxicor pyramid ships uncloaked in front of Cody.

"It's them!"

Cody quickly dived back into the CHARIOT, making sure to close the door. As he dropped down, he hit the lever for time travel. Just before he crushed Zack's face with his shoe, they entered hyperspace; the CHARIOT turned on the correct side; no other changes happened, oddly enough.

"I'm going to see if they followed us," Cody said, opening the door, "Keep an eye on me."

Cody walked outside, seeing ancient Egypt. Sand, desert, pyramids…then suddenly, something hit Cody from behind. He hit the ground face-first.

"Rrrg!" Cody groaned

He turned around, seeing three Thraxicor standing there.

"Human!" the middle one growled, "You will be arrested and taken for execution!"

"I'm not going without a fight," Cody pulled himself up

/

One Thraxicor lashed out at Cody with a karate chop; Cody grabbed his hand, then yanked him to the ground. He then did a spinning kick right into the other Thraxicor's face, and then pretended to face-punch the third one but instead went for a blow to the ribs. Inside, the CHARIOT gang watched with awe on the TV. Woody tugged Zack's sleeve.

"We are taping this right? I wanna watch it later."

Cody slammed his fists into two other Thraxicor, and then got a sixth one by throwing the first guy into him.

"Zack, can you do that?" Bailey asked

"No…" Zack breathed

"So only Cody's studied martial arts?"

"He's never been in a fight in his life," Zack replied, "One time this girl beat him up for stepping on her shoe."

"And I'd do it again," London added

Cody held up his hand, and the Thraxicor stopped. Cody said something to them.

"How do you turn on the sound?" Bailey asked

"I think it's this one," London turned a knob, "No, it's this one…"

Cody took out a card from his wallet, and showed it to the Thraxicor.

"What's he showing them?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"Hold on, I think this is for sound," Woody said

He turned another knob, and the picture went all fuzzy.

"Change it back!" everyone yelled

/

Woody hastily tried to change it, but then he pulled out the knob. Zack grabbed it, and tried to put it back in, but then it electrocuted him. London changed it…to the wrong channel, showing a view of a room similar to the CHARIOT's main room, only more like a library, then Bailey changed it back, revealing Cody shaking hands with the Thraxicor.

"I am really sorry," he said, over the speakers, "I'm glad we sorted this out."

The Thraxicor nodded solemnly.

"So, I'll be seeing you," Cody then said something in another language

/

Cody walked back inside.

"What did you do out there?" Bailey asked, "One moment you were fighting them off, the next you were shaking hands with them."

"I just showed them my…" Cody stopped, "I talked to them. Apparently, we had things wrong. You know how they attacked New York?"

"Yes…" Bailey began

"Wrong. That wasn't New York; it was the Thraxicor home world. We forcefully annexed it; they had tried to talk to us, but we just pushed them to the point where the only way we'd have their attention is if they attacked us."

"What about the one who was by the CHARIOT?" Zack asked

"He was attempting to correct a time-distortion," Cody explained, "If we hadn't left when we did, the ship would have drifted to the darkest depths of hyperspace."

"And the people in the dome?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"There was a nuclear civil war," Cody explained, "We scorched the earth. But the Thraxicor, they still helped us. They built the domes, and gave us treatment for radiation. That's what the 'guns' were."

"Wow…" Bailey was shocked

"Yeah. The good thing is, they understand that it was an accident that I killed that guy," Cody continued, "They also forgave me for shooting down one of their ships, and the best part is, they've offered us a ride home."

Everyone gasped.

"We can go back to the SS Tipton?" London asked

"Uh huh," Cody nodded, "They have very advanced time technology. Do you want to go home?"

"Of course!"

/

The Thraxicor engaged the CHARIOT in a time-lock, and brought them back to the SS Tipton, seconds after they had left.

"Thanks guys," Cody said, over the inter-time radio, "I hope there's no hard feelings."

"Think nothing of it, human," said a calm voice, "Farewell."

The screen went blank.

"OK, now I want to be sure that we never get lost in time again," Cody said

He took out his laser gun.

"Don't shoot me!" Bailey begged

"I'm not going to," Cody gave her a condescending stare, "I'm going to blow the door off, thus rending the CHARIOT useless and beyond repair."

Before anyone could stop him, Cody blasted the door off.

"So, shall we go see what they're serving on the sky deck?" Cody suggested

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell us who you are," Bailey said

"Cody Martin, from Boston," he replied

"You know what we mean," Zack said, "You're really creeping us out. The larger-indoors time machine, hiding what you were in Hyperspace, what you showed the aliens…"

"OK," Cody sighed, "I guess you have the right to know. I did some travelling on my own before I took you guys with me. About a year's worth. I learned the secret of trans-dimensional engineering during my travels; before that, the CHARIOT was just the size of a crate. The thing is…I took on the name 'The Scientist'. I traveled through time and space, saving people's lives and imprinting myself into civilizations, known only as a lonely hero. Just before we left, I was working on a way to fight these alien machines called the Skelads, my sworn enemies. I had to stop them from invading earth via a satellite that controlled the earth through homicidal online board games. My defeat of them was what gave me a fearsome reputation in the universe. I just showed the Thraxicor the Scientist's calling card, and they agreed to talk to me."

/

It took everyone a while to absorb what Cody had said. They asked him questions, and he told them about the Skelads, an inter-dimensional being called Chulan, and even about when the heart of the CHARIOT opened up and turned his friend into a semi-god for five minutes. They began leaving one at a time; Ms. Tutweiller went to see Mr. Moesby, Zack had to get to work, London and Woody were very tired. Cody began to unscrew the time controls.

"Cody, that was an amazing trip," Bailey said, "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Cody replied, flicking switches, "Could you go get me a screwdriver? I want to remove the time controls."

"Sure."

Bailey walked out of the CHARIOT, entering Cody's room. She browsed through his tools.

"Hey Cody, do you want a crosshead or…?"

Bailey accidentally knocked a stack of books onto the floor. She knelt down to pick them up. The Old Man and the Sea, Watchmen, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Quantum Physics for Blondes, and a DVD. Bailey looked at it, and was shocked by the title: The Scientist, season 7. She turned it over, and read the description:

/

Join Christopher Titan as The Scientist in another exciting season of the classic show. Watch as he travels time and space, attempts to thwart the Skelad invasion of earth, battles the inter-dimensional Chulan, and tries to stop Cassidy Tilde (played by Jo Batel) from becoming corrupt by the god-like powers of The Scientist's time-ship, the CARRIAGE. Also includes: cast interviews, deleted scenes, and the pilot episode of the American version of the show.

/

"Cody Martin!" Bailey exclaimed, running inside the CHARIOT

"OK, you got me," Cody grinned

"How could you lie to me?" Bailey asked

"I knew you wouldn't fall for it," Cody admitted, "But I had to throw everyone else off."

"So what's the real explanation?"

Cody groaned.

"Bailey, I really can't tell you," he said, "I just can't. You've got to understand, I just can't."

Cody leaned on the time controls, exhaling deeply.

"Can you understand that?" he asked

Bailey gave him a hug.

"Sure. You can tell me when you're ready."

"Thanks," Cody kissed her, "How about we go continue that date?"

"OK."

/

The following Monday…

/

"…and that's how I learned not to buy swimsuits at the gas station," Ms. Tutweiller continued, "By the way, where's Cody?"

Woody, Bailey, Ms. Tutweiller, Zack, and London exchanged glances. Then they tore out of the classroom, much to the surprise of the rest of the class.

"He might be working on a nuclear reactor!" Zack said

"Or worse!"

"I found a copy of the Necronomicon in his desk!" Ms. Tutweiller added

/

They ran to his cabin; Zack banged on the door.

"Cody! Open up!" he yelled

"I can't…" Cody replied

"Woody! Open that door!" Bailey ordered

Woody kicked the door open, revealing Cody lying in bed, surrounded by tissues.

"What?" Cody groaned, "I can't take a sick day?"

"Sorry, sorry," everyone muttered

Woody pulled the door back up.

"I'll bring you your homework," Bailey said

"Thank you…"

The door closed. Cody leapt out of bed.

"Can't believe they bought that," Cody grinned to himself

He quickly began picking up the tissues, then threw them away. Cody then pulled a set of keys from his pocket, and stuck one of them in the CHARIOT. He opened it, revealing the CHARIOT control room.

"Dang it, wrong key," Cody muttered

He closed the door, then opened the CHARIOT with another key. It opened up, revealing a similar control room, only with more time controls, more specific dials, controls, gauges, for a more civilized form of time and space travel. Cody stepped inside. He flicked a switch on the console, and a hidden door opened up, revealing a hallway with even more doors, leading to living rooms, kitchens, laboratories, ballrooms, basketball courts, hockey rinks, greenhouses…it went on and on.

"The renaissance, I think," Cody said

He entered the coordinates, and was off…

/

/

/

The End, for now.


	8. Chapter 8

/

/

/

Cody had been gone for two weeks; Bailey sat on his bed, holding one of his polo shirts. She missed him a lot, just his very presence in her life. Everyone was worried about Cody, but especially Bailey. She had spent a lot of her spare time looking through the history books, trying to find a mention of Cody. If he had gotten lost back in time, there might be a chance that he had left her a message telling her how to get to him.

"I love you…" Bailey sighed, looking at the shirt

Suddenly, in front of her there was a flash of light; the CHARIOT appeared, but different. One side of it was burned, and there were several chips, even an arrow embedded in the door. The said door opened, revealing Cody. He was also different; he stood there in a sleeveless trench coat, no shirt, brown pinstriped pants, and had a Katanna strapped to his back. To top it off, he was wearing two watches on one arm. He slammed the door behind him.

"Unbelievable!" he exclaimed

"Cody!" Bailey gasped

She got up to hug him. His coat was cold.

"Where have you been?" she asked

"I just wanted to take a quick trip to the 70s, slap Nixon around a few times," Cody said, out of breath, "But they got me."

"Who?"

"The Delta Directive," Cody explained, "They're like hyperspatial traffic cops. They put me on trial for my interference with time, and grounded me to this time period."

Cody reopened the CHARIOT, and a cloud of smoke shot out at him. He coughed violently.

"Well what could you have done in two weeks that was so bad?" Bailey asked

"Is that how long it's been for you?" Cody asked

"Yeah…how long was it for you?"

"About six months."

/

As soon as Cody had cooled down the time machine (and explained to Bailey its change in interior), he and Bailey went up to the sky deck.

"My trial took two days," Cody explained, going through the buffet, "I haven't had a thing to eat since then."

"So where else did you go?" Zack asked

The CHARIOT gang had assembled around him, eager to know what had happened.

"Well, I had more control over where I was going this time," Cody said, "So I went to a lot of places. To name a few, I revisited the colonial era, met teenage Cleopatra, won a chariot race in Rome, ate a dodo egg, convinced Jesse Owens to partake in the 1936 Olympics, helped JFK write his 'New Frontier' speech, and taught Lady Godiva how to ride a horse…are these ribs double glazed? I could go for a burger right now. Double bacon cheeseburger, curly fries…hey Bailey, you ever think of dying your hair? I think this group needs a blonde female. Then we'd have black hair, red hair, blonde hair…actually, to even it out, I should die my hair red. No, wait, I already did that. And did you ever…"

"Cody, slow down," Ms. Tutweiller said, "You're going to choke."

Cody swallowed his food.  
"Sorry. I became used to life being really fast."

"Hey Cody, after you taught Lady Godiva how to ride…" Woody began, "Did you stick around to see…you know…?"

"Does the coach stick around to watch the ball game?" Cody grinned

"And…did the coach tape it off ESPN?" Woody attempted

Cody raised an eyebrow, then nodded, understanding. He tossed Woody his cell phone.

"Video 86," Cody said, "Starts about three seconds in."

"Sweet!"

/

Later…

/

Bailey was working with Cody in the CHARIOT, passing him tools under the console. Apparently, the Delta Directive had rigged up special measures to prevent him from leaving his current point in time, but that wasn't going to stop Cody.

"So what happened while I was gone?" Cody asked, tightening some bolts

"Not much," Bailey said, "Sean Kingston came aboard the ship, had a crush on London, so Zack manipulated him into throwing a party for her but Zack actually wanted to throw one for Maya, a girl he likes, only he ended up telling Mr. Moesby it was also a party for him, leading to Moesby wearing a sequined pink jacket intended for Maya, but then in the end it all worked out and Sean sang for us. There was also a subplot about Woody and me going to a chocolate factory."

"Usual stuff, huh?" Cody asked, "It seems as if something like that happens to us every week…"

/

Cody slammed the panel of the time-console shut.

"This isn't going to work," he announced, "My stuff's been time- sheltered. If I fix it, then it'll just shoot back to normal."

"Dang."

Cody opened up the front door by pressing a button on the console; he hurled his spanner out; it hit something.

"Yes!" he made a fist in the air, "Got Woody in the back of the head! Twenty points!"

Bailey looked at him with horror.

"I'm kidding," Cody grinned, "I hit my throw pillows."

/

Cody took Bailey on a small tour of the CHARIOT. He showed her his kitchen, the basketball court, and the science lab.

"How did you build these?" Bailey asked, in awe of the scientific equipment

"It's not really built, it's developed," Cody explained, "I designed it on my computer, processed it into a dimensional inhibitor…after that, it was simply a matter of filling it with artifacts from my travels."

"It's amazing. Why didn't we have this when we were lost in time?"

"It didn't exist yet," Cody explained, "It was growing, building itself. If I had even unlocked it, then the entire CHARIOT would have collapsed on itself. You know what happens when a compacted dimension is compromised?"

"Localized explosion hopefully limited to our own galaxy," Bailey completed

Cody was surprised that she knew that.

"I read about it in Popular Science."

"Oh yeah…"

Cody checked his watches.

"Bailey, I've got to get some sleep," he said, "I've been through nightmarish two-days."

"OK."

They kissed.

/

Cody walked to his bedroom in the CHARIOT; it was like a hotel room, very neat and generic. He collapsed on his bed, and lazily slid beneath his covers. The boy had been through a lot; after being ambushed by the Delta Directive, he had gone through a two-day trial where his entire life had been examined. Cody was scared by the Delta Directive; they were the only people who truly knew who he was. Still, I guess being sent back to his friends and family wasn't the worst punishment for what he did…

/

A short while later, both of Cody's watches began bleeping.

"Answer," Cody groaned, waking up

He held out his arms. Hologram projectors in the watches switched on, showing some text: HE IS COMING FOR YOU.

"NO!" Cody exclaimed

/

To Be Continued…


	9. Chapter 9

_Warning: the story gets a bit complicated starting here._

/

/

/

At once, Cody scrambled out of bed, running through his ship. Down the corridor, through the library, through the next corridor, through the control room, then out of it into his cabin. At once, Cody grabbed his coat from off the peg on the wall.

"Not him…" Cody groaned

The boy sprinted out through the hallways; he saw Mr. Moesby ahead of him.

"Cody, I will ask you not to run in my…" he began

Cody didn't have time to talk; he kicked the ground, and launched himself right over Mr. Moesby's head. He had perfect control over himself as he moved through the air. Cody touched down on the ground, and kept running as Mr. Moesby looked on with surprise.

/

Eventually, Cody made it to the Sky Deck. Many of the passengers eyed him with suspicious looks; his bizarre dress sense made him stand out.

"Bailey!" Cody yelled

The farmer's daughter popped up from behind the smoothie bar. While Cody was gone, Zack had covered for him at work, and Bailey had covered for Zack.

"Hi Cody," she smiled

"Bailey, we need to talk," Cody said

"OK."

"When I was time travelling…I met this guy. He was like me, a teenager who built a time machine, but his intentions were anything but noble."

"Oh my."

"I had to seal him in the Eternal Fissure to stop him from destabilizing the Andromeda Galaxy, and he swore revenge on me. And now he's escaped."

"Can't that…Omega Director do something?" Bailey asked

"Delta Directive," Cody corrected, "No. He's well connected at the Delta Directive headquarters; they couldn't lay a finger on him."

"Wow. How will I know who he is?"

"He goes by the name of Simon…"

Cody realized Bailey wasn't ready for the truth.

"…Barton," Cody made up the name

/

Cody returned to the CHARIOT, and started up the hyper-com. It was a CB radio-like device that could communicate over long distances of space and time.

"This is CHARIOT calling Delta Directive," Cody said, speaking into the microphone, "CHARIOT to Delta Directive."

There was a brief silence. Then a deep, echoing voice said:

"This is the Delta Directive. State your intentions."

"Simon is after me," Cody said, "I'd like to ask for protection from him."

There was more silence.

"Denied."

"But I…!"

"Denied, CHARIOT. Simon has no criminal record, you have no need for Delta Directive protection."

"Simon's a dangerous criminal! He…" the line was dead, "Rrrrg!"

Cody hung up the microphone, and sighed.

"I tried," he muttered

/

The next day…

/

Cody was in his quarters, repairing his laser gun. It had been damaged when the Delta Directive had confiscated it. Woody had given him a hand.

"So how did you fit the blade setting in?" Woody asked, "Doesn't it get in the way of the laser blast?"

"At first I hid it in the handle," Cody explained, "But subjecting the blade to the laser makes it heat up, makes it easier to cut things."

"Can I try it?" Woody asked

Cody hesitated.

"OK. But there are just two small things you need to know…"

/

Five minutes later…

/

"…which is connected to the impulse valve…"

/

Two minutes later…

/

"…that then reverses the polarity of the neutron flow…"

/

Three minutes later…

/

"…but if that's true, then you should call a doctor to pull it out," Cody completed, "Got that?"

"Uh…" Woody attempted to absorb the information, "So…point and shoot?"

"Pretty much."

/

Cody opened a window.

"OK, aim it at the sky," Cody ordered, "I don't want to accidentally take out another cruise ship."

Woody picked up the gun. It had changed from when Woody had last seen it; instead of the simple silver tube with a handle, it now had a metal clamp that extended from the handle and locked around the wrist. There was also a scope on top, which Cody claimed would let him shoot at targets as far away as the moon. Woody stuck the gun out the window, and fired a blast of pure energy through a cloud.

"Nice," Cody said

/

Later that night…

/

The CHARIOT gang was enjoying an expensive dinner in the Sky lounge, an open air restaurant.

"Order whatever you want," Cody said, "I can afford it."

"Did you make a lot of money when you were travelling?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"Yeah, but I did it all legally," Cody replied, "I opened up a savings account at the First Bank of America, right when it started, I put about thirty-two dollars in there; the Delta Directive got on my back about that because it stimulated the economy. Anyway, all the interest after all these years accumulated to quite a bit."

Suddenly, the entire ship bobbed to the left and the right; this was uncommon, since they were passing through calm waters.

"OK, kids, nothing to worry about," Ms. Tutweiller said

Suddenly, the entire ship stopped moving. And not just a simple engine cut-off, it jerked to a halt, as if someone slammed on the brakes. Bailey and Ms. Tutweiller's drinks almost spilt on them. Just as they tipped over, Cody held out his hands, and without touching them, the glasses stabilized.

"How did you…?" Ms. Tutweiller began

Cody stood up, and drew his laser gun.

"Bailey, follow me," he ordered

/

The two of them headed to the bow of the ship, overlooking the sea.

"Could we have hit something?" Bailey asked

"No, it's more than that," Cody said, "If we hit something, we'd still be moving in some direction, but now we're just motionless."

Mr. Moesby ran up to Cody.

"Can you tell what's going on?" he asked

"Not sure," Cody replied

"What does the originator say?"

"It hasn't picked up anything."

Bailey was confused by the conversation.

"He knows," Cody explained

"I helped Cody get the parts he needed for the CHARIOT," Moesby explained, "A friend of mine at NASA got him the…"

"Ix-nay, Mr. Moesby!" Cody warned, waving his hands frantically

/

Cody took some readings on a cell phone-like device.

"Something down there is stopping us," Cody concluded, "Possibly a tractor beam of some kind."

"Can we just drop a bomb on it and get going?" London asked

"I never carry weapons," Cody replied

"What about your…?" Bailey began

"Doesn't count."

"How about that…?" Woody asked

"Nope."

"What about the CHARIOT's…?" Zack began

"Nope."

/

Cody fished some diving gear out of the CHARIOT's wardrobe; it was very assorted, ranging from a very antiquated brass ADS suit to a simple mouthpiece connected to a small tank.

"Everyone got their bathing suits?" Cody asked

"We'll need more than those," Ms. Tutweiller reminded, "The water's very cold."

"We've got these," Cody held up several belts, "Personal heaters."

"Have you used them before?" Zack asked suspiciously

"Uh…once."

"…and?"

"Best fried chicken I had in a long time."


	10. Chapter 10

/

The gang suited up, wearing their diving apparatus with their swimsuits; Woody took the ADS helmet, Zack, Cody, and Bailey took tanks from the near-future, the small ones, London took a golden wristband with a tube that went to the mouthpiece, and Ms. Tutweiller went with a bottle of white pills.

"How do these work?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"You'll see," Cody said

Ms. Tutweiller swallowed two of them as the bottle instructed. Cody then took out his laser gun, and fired a barrage of blasts at the railing, knocking a section down.

"Everyone ready?" Cody asked

"What?" Woody yelled, through his thick helmet

Cody opened up the helmet's front hatch.

"Are you ready?" Cody yelled

"Yep!"

Cody closed the hatch. He then placed his respirator in his mouth, and dived off the edge of the ship. Bailey followed. Then London stepped up to dive.

"Wait, London," Ms. Tutweiller said, "You can't dive in a bikini; it'll come right off."

"Oh, you're right!" London said, "I'll just go throw on a T-shirt."

Zack punched Woody on the shoulder, very hard.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" he groaned

"Because I can't hit Ms. Tutweiller!" Zack replied

"Fair enough…"

/

The gang was all in the water. The ship still hadn't moved.

"Cody, I don't think the pills are working," Ms. Tutweiller said

"Let me check," Cody offered

He felt the side of his teacher's neck.

"It's starting," he announced

"What is?"

Ms. Tutweiller felt her neck.

"Oh no, I think I cut myself…" she looked at her hands to see if there was blood, "Ah!"

To the woman's shock, her hands had become webbed.

"It's ok, it's supposed to do that," Cody replied, "The pills are from the water planet Aquaterra, they're used by tourists to explore the sunken cities, gives you gills and webbed appendages. But enough of that; everyone follow me down."

/

They all began swimming to a bright light at the bottom of the ocean, which Cody believed was the source of the troubles. Cody believed it was not an unpleasant task. The belt kept him nice and warm, the air was fresh, and the water was so calm that he had plenty of time to think. If Simon had escaped from the Eternal Fissure, then that would mean that there was a brief period of time in which the dimensional barrier was open.

"Hey Zack," Cody said, through a radio in the mask

"Yeah?" Zack replied

"Dad'll probably visit us sometime soon."

"Sweet. Did he e-mail you?"

"Uh…yeah."

/

Eventually, they arrived at the source of the light, a large metal disc in the ground.

"We'll need to get inside," Cody announced, over the radio

The gang swam around the disc, trying to find an entrance. Cody swam underneath it, lighting the way with a flashlight. Woody followed him.

"What does the entrance look like?" Woody asked

As he spoke, his voice echoed in the helmet. Cody grinned.

"Woody, say 'Luke, I am your father'," Cody begged

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"Luke, I am your father," Woody said

"Awesome!"

/

Ms. Tutweiller found the entrance; she placed her hand on the ship, and it automatically opened up, pulling the CHARIOT gang in. It felt like going through a water-slide; they came shooting into a control room. It was chrome, with computers around the perimeter and a single window that stretched all the way around, showing the views of the ocean.

"What is this?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"It's a gravity anchor," Cody deduced, "it's used on water planets to stabilize boats on the surface so seasick tourists can go somewhere that's steady."

Cody snapped his fingers.

"That's why it opened for you," he said, "It recognized your webbed hands and thought you were Aquaterran."

Cody attempted to override the computers.

"That's odd," he said, "Some of these have been hacked. The only reason you'd need to hack an Aquaterran craft is…oh no."

Too late; suddenly, bars shot down over the windows, and the exits locked. Cody reached for his laser gun, only to realize he had left it on the ship.

"Forget something?" a chilling voice said

Suddenly, from out of thin air a teenager appeared; he was dark haired, about Cody's height, and was dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and combat trousers. He carried a laser gun similar to Cody's, only it was different, made from copper and having a rusty spike sticking out of the barrel.

"Simon," Cody breathed

"Hello, Cody," Simon growled

"I heard you escaped," Cody said, "How did you do it?"

"You left me trapped in a repeating loop in space where reality and fantasy coincided into one timeless nightmare," Simon sneered, "Would it have stopped you?"

"No," Cody admitted

Simon fired his gun at Cody, knocking him against the wall. Bailey ran to help him.

"Don't!" Simon warned

Bailey moved back; Simon observed the CHARIOT gang.

"So this is your crew?" Simon said, "The farm girl, the spinster, the doofus, the heiress, and…"

Simon gave Zack a suspicious look.

"Zack, right?" he asked

"Who wants to know?" Zack replied

Simon's look of hatred was replaced with one of confusion.

"You mean you don't know who I am?" Simon asked

"Cody said you were some psychopath from the future," Zack said, "And he's not wrong."

"Oh, brilliant," Simon grinned

"Don't you dare tell him," Cody groaned, getting up

"Why not?" Simon asked, "It'd be fun!"

"Tell me what?" Zack asked

"Zack, you're not ready to know," Cody said

"Isn't that for him to decide?" Simon asked

"No!" Cody replied

"I think I should tell him," Simon said, "Zack…"

Suddenly, there was a change in colors in the room, red, blue, purple, and then complete black. When the colors returned to normal, Kurt Martin, Zack and Cody's father, was standing next to Cody. He didn't look like his normal self. Instead of his usual casual rock-n-roll clothes, he was wearing a dark brown robe.

"Hello, boys," Kurt said

"Hey dad," Zack and Cody said

Kurt looked sternly at Simon.

"I thought I told you to leave Cody alone," Kurt said

"I have the right to my revenge," Simon replied

"Not if it's on your own brother."

"WHAT?" Zack exclaimed

"What?" Bailey cried

"What?" Woody asked, opening his helmet

/

To be continued…


	11. Chapter 11

/

/

/

The stand-off between the Martins was fierce; the rest of Cody's crew was just standing on the side, too nervous to intervene.

"So he's my brother," Zack repeated

"Half brother," Kurt said, "We thought it was best not to tell you."

"But Cody knew," Zack said

"It's different with Cody," Kurt attempted to explain

"What about you?" Zack asked his dad, "I feel like I don't even know you."

"The entire family history is very complicated," Kurt replied, "Now is not the best time to talk about it. We need to focus on Simon."

"What about Simon?" Simon asked, sarcastically, "I've done nothing wrong."

"You're being charged with uncalled-for revenge," Kurt explained

Simon snorted.

"My contacts at the Delta Directive will drop the charges," he replied

"Contacts?" Kurt grinned, "Oh, you mean like The Advocate of the Forbidden Patriot?"

Kurt took out a gold triangular badge.

"And The Representative of the Untouched Exploit?"

He took out a gold octagonal badge.

"They were you all along?" Simon gasped

"Uh huh," Kurt nodded, "I thought I could let a few of your crimes slide, maybe you'd learn. But not anymore. I don't care if you are my son."

"So…you work for the Delta Directive?" Zack asked "What does that make me?"

"It means you're the son of an advanced species from another dimension. That makes you half-human, from your mother, and half…not human, from me."

"How 'not-human'?" Zack asked

"Well…one heart, two lungs, no appendix, but one-point-five brains."

"One-point-five?"

"Yeah. You've got half a brain in addition to an above average brain."

"Don't say anything!" Zack warned, turning to the gang

"I wasn't going to say anything about how funny it is that you have one-and-a-half brains when it barely seems like you have one!" Woody said, in his defense

Zack punched him.

"I deserved that…" Woody groaned

/

"So, that's your big secret?" Bailey spoke out, "That your dad is an inter-dimensional policeman?"

"It's not that simple," Cody replied, "There's more to it…"

Suddenly, Simon pulled out his gun, firing a blast of electricity at Kurt. He clasped his chest in pain, dropping his badges. Simon grabbed one of them, gripped onto Bailey's collar, and disappeared…

/

"What was that?" Zack exclaimed

"The badges contains an emergency two-man teleport to my ship," Kurt groaned, clasping his heart, "Simon's now got one of the most advanced spaceships in the known universe."

"Is there any way of stopping him?" Cody asked, frantically

"My other badge also has a teleport," Kurt took out the triangle, "But I'm too injured to go after him."

"Let me do it," Cody begged, "I can do it!"

"No," Kurt wheezed, "It's too dangerous to go on your own. I'd rather have the whole universe be at risk than loose one of my sons."

"So we're doomed?"

"I'm afraid so…"

/

The gravity anchor was disengaged from the ocean floor, and floated up to the ocean's surface. Lucky for them, the SS Tipton had turned around.

"Attention Cody and crew!" Mr. Moesby yelled, over the loudspeaker, "We're lowering down the rescue boat!"

/

The gang was brought back onto the ship, but they weren't too glad about it.

"Why are they all so glum?" Mr. Moesby asked

"Simon's escaped and took Bailey and my ship," Kurt sighed

"Oh no. What about the…?" Moesby began

Kurt shook his head.

"Am I the only one who didn't know this?" Zack groaned

"It wasn't safe for you to know," Cody explained, "You're different from the rest of our species."

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint…" Zack growled

"No, Zack, it's a good thing," Cody said, "People like Dad and me, our brains are science-minded, they stop us from functioning in normal society. Even in the home dimension, everyone's bad at communication; every moment is an awkward silence, every personal conversation is an epic fail. But you have social skills; you're great at talking to people, talking to girls, you go on lots of dates, you've got about 50,000 Facebook friends, and you can hold down a cool job."

"Really?" Zack asked

"Yeah. You don't know how lucky you are."

/

The gang headed to the CHARIOT after changing out of their swimsuits; Kurt collapsed onto an armchair, he was not doing so well.

"Drink this," Cody opened up the time console, and took out a bottle of clear liquid, "It should calm your heart down."

Kurt took the bottle, and drank it.

"Thanks Cody," he grimaced

"Guys, we need to figure out what Simon will do," Ms. Tutweiller said, "Mr. Martin, what exactly is your ship capable of?"

"Well, it has standard chemical engines."

"That's not so bad,"

"Plus hyperdrive transport, warp drive, vortex manipulation, time travel within a billion years of current location, laser torpedoes, photonic shotguns, food machines, and a hydroponic oxygen machine."

"Does it have a clock?" Woody asked

Everyone gave Woody a withering look.

"Of course it has a clock, it has almost everything," Cody said through gritted teeth

"Woody, did that helmet damage your brain?" London asked

"What?" he groaned, "I just thought it would be funny if it had everything but a clock!"

"That's an interesting thought, Woody," Kurt sighed, "But it has everything but the kitchen sink. We've got no transport, no weapons. We can only hope Simon's feeling merciful."

Suddenly, the colors in the room changed from red to blue, then black, and when it cleared, Arwin Hawkhauser stood in front of the CHARIOT door. He was dressed in his standard blue jumpsuit, and had on his big glasses, but he stood proud, holding a badge just like Kurt's.

"Need a hand?" he asked


	12. Chapter 12

/

/

/

"That's an interesting thought, Woody," Kurt sighed, "But it has everything but the kitchen sink. We've got no transport, no weapons. We can only hope Simon's feeling merciful."

Suddenly, the colors in the room changed from red to blue, then black, and when it cleared, Arwin Hawkhauser stood in front of the CHARIOT door. He was dressed in his standard blue jumpsuit, and had on his big glasses, but he stood proud, holding a badge just like Kurt's.

"Need a hand?" he asked

/

"Arwin," Kurt nodded, acknowledging his presence, "Figured you'd show up. What have you got? Vortex manipulator? Dimension transponder?"

"It's a bouncer," Arwin replied

"No!" Kurt gasped, "You have a bouncer?"

"Built it from my dimension machine," Arwin explained, "Had to compress it into this wrist-strap by feeding it through a black hole."

"Wait, Arwin's in on this too?" London asked

"Arwin's from my dimension," Kurt explained, "He was something of an anthropologist, studying humans, and he decided he wanted to live with them."

"So he's not related to us or anything is he?" Zack asked

"No," Cody shook his head

"Oh, good," Zack breathed a sigh of relief, "Otherwise Arwin going on that date with mom would be really weird."

Cody buried his face in his palms. Kurt turned to Arwin, looking furious.

"You dated my wife?" he growled

"Now Kurt, I know you're mad," Arwin said, backing against the wall, "But first just think…"

"YOU DATED MY WIFE?"

"Um, excuse me," Ms. Tutweiller interrupted, "But would you let Cody go after Simon if Arwin went with him?"

/

Kurt reached to his robe pocket, and handed Arwin and Cody his badge.

"One way teleport to my ship," Kurt explained, "You guys know how Simon can be. Don't make any deals with him, don't try to reason with him, and don't use 'brother-guilt' on him."

"What's brother-guilt?" Cody asked

"It's how I get you to do my laundry," Zack replied

/

Arwin and Cody activated the badge, and teleported into Kurt's ship. It was very surreal; the entire place was almost completely black, with no walls or exits in sight. The only light was one beaming around a comfortable looking leather chair a few feet from Cody. He didn't even know what he was standing on.

"This is too strange," Cody said, "What, are we in outer space or something?"

"It's sort of another dimension," Arwin explained, "Same technology as your ship, but without the walls, floor, or ceiling."

Cody took out a roll of Mentos from his pocket, and threw one away. It went flying several feet; nothing stopped it.

"Simon!" Cody yelled

"Hello, brother…" Simon menacingly echoed

"Simon, surrender!" Cody ordered

A light turned on, with Simon beneath it. He was wearing a robe similar to Kurt's, only it was completely black.

"Amazing what you can find in other people's closets…" he said creepily

Cody drew his laser gun, pointing it at his half-brother. He pressed the button on the side, and the blade slid out.

"Where's Bailey?" he demanded

Another light turned on, revealing Bailey, trapped inside a large glass container. She looked very scared, but otherwise unharmed.

"You've got her inside a Tremas Trap?" Arwin asked

"Uh huh,"

"What's that?" Cody asked

"The container is very unstable," Arwin explained, "If the glass breaks, then so will Bailey."

Simon held up what looked like a pen-light.

"This will shatter it," Simon warned

"Don't do it!" Cody yelled

"Really? Are you sure you don't want me to just make a couple of air holes?"

He placed the shatter-weapon right on the glass.

"Drop your gun," Simon ordered

Cody slowly placed the gun on the ground.

"Good."

Simon took out his gun, and destroyed Cody's gun.

"It feels like you've just killed an old friend," Cody said quietly

/

Simon steered the dimension-ship to the SS Tipton, and forced Arwin to get out. He also confiscated Kurt's spare badge.

"Leave the bouncer," Simon ordered

Arwin begrudgingly took off his wrist-strap, and tossed it to Simon.

"Arwin, tell Zack he can keep my silver watch if I die," Cody said

"Cody, you won't die," Arwin reassured

"Just tell him, would you?"

"OK…"

/

The portal through to the Tipton opened up, and Arwin stepped through it. Simon closed it, and then turned to Cody.

"What's your plan, brother?" Cody asked

"You and I are going to the home dimension," Simon said, sitting in the chair, "I will kill several key members of the Delta Directive, thus putting Dad in the line of succession for Chief Director. With you as my hostage, he'll let me get away with anything."

"Don't call him Dad!" Cody blurted out

"What?" Simon growled

"You don't deserve to call him that!" Cody said, "He's the greatest guy I've ever known! You're nothing but a shame to him!"

"Oh good, that will make this even easier," Simon replied coldly

/

Arwin ran into Cody's cabin, and into the CHARIOT.

"Where's Cody?" Kurt asked, getting up

"I'm sorry, Simon's got him," Arwin panted, "There was nothing I could do. He had Bailey in a Tremas Trap, he threatened to shatter it…"

Arwin took a deep breath; he had run from the sky deck to the CHARIOT in barely a minute.

"It's alright, Arwin, I'm sure you did what you could," Kurt said, patting his friend on the back

"By the way, Zack, Cody said you can keep his silver watch," Arwin added

Zack was confused.

"I don't have his silver watch," he said

"Oh," Arwin was confused, "Then why did he tell me that?"

"I don't know. Who does have the watch?" Zack asked, "Whoever has it, it's mine!"

Everyone looked at each other.

"I guess he gave it to Bailey," Ms. Tutweiller said

"Excuse me, what's so significant about this watch?" Kurt asked

"It's the homing beacon for the CHARIOT," Woody explained, "Back when it worked, you could just press a button and it would home in on the watch."

"Shame the Delta Directive got to the ship," Zack said

"Hey, we were just doing our jobs!" Kurt protested, "I mean, I could easily revoke the punishment, but he wouldn't learn anything."

Everyone figured it out at once. They circled around the time-console.

"It'll just take me a minute to deactivate the time-lock," Kurt said, sliding underneath the console

"I'll find the red button," London said

"She'll be at that all day…" Zack muttered

/

Kurt's ship was in the middle of transferring to the other dimension; unlike space travel, dimension travel was a long and complex procedure. Space was all connected; dimensions were separate. Simon had imprisoned Cody in a glass box, which he planned to convert to a Tremas Trap.

"Simon," Cody said, "There's a big difference between enjoying the fruits of the universe and recklessly tearing it apart."

Simon turned round in the chair, facing Cody.

"How can I enjoy it if I'm held back by the rules?"

He turned back round.

"The rules aren't that severe," Cody said, "Obey the local law, don't interfere with history…"

Simon sighed.

"If anything, my breaking of the rules improved the universe. I destroyed the Furiot Empire before its annexation of New Py'rk."

"But that war led to advances in technology. Because of you, their society was held back two-hundred years."

Simon sneered.

"Small price to pay. I'm a hero!"

"You just did it so you could profit from a company that delivered between the Furiot trade blockades!"

"Well…so what? That's your problem."

Cody's eyes darted to Bailey's Tremas Trap, just as the CHARIOT arrived. Bailey quickly got inside the ship, and it departed. Cody then he looked to Simon.

"Hey Simon, Bailey's gone," Cody said

"I'm not falling for that one, Cody," Simon replied, "No one can leave the glass without specific coordinates."

"Well she's gone," Cody said, "So I guess I can leave now."

"How can you leave?"

"I've had my teleport watch this whole time. I was just waiting for Bailey to be safe."

At once, Simon leapt up, brandishing his glass shattering weapon. He fired it at Cody; around him, glass fell to the ground. He had to get that watch away from him.

"Gotcha," Cody grinned

Simon reached to his gun and pointed it at Cody, and Cody merely slapped it out of his hand. Simon attempted to sock Cody, but Cody grabbed his brother's fist.

"Dad told me never to hurt anyone unless it was in defense," Cody said, "So this counts, because I'm doing it to defend the entire universe."

Cody yanked on Simon's fist, sending him slamming down face-first on the floor.

"Urgh…" Simon groaned

Cody reached inside Simon's vest, and took out both of Kurt's badges. He pocketed one of them , and placed the other in his hand.

"Simon, I'm going to leave you here," Cody announced, "The life support will keep you alive, but you won't be able to cause anyone any harm. Maybe you'll be able to think about what you've done."

"I'll be out of here in two days!" Simon growled, "I've got so many weapons of mass destruction that I've hidden in this ship!"

"Too bad you don't have an exit to use them on," Cody replied

And with one tap on the badge, Cody was out of there.

/


	13. Chapter 13

_Final chapter (for a while). Please review?_

/

/

/

Cody appeared back in his cabin, right where he had left. It felt so liberating to see them all unharmed. He ran up to Bailey and embraced her.

"Oh good, you got my message," Cody said, relieved

"Very clever, son," Kurt grinned

"You did great," Bailey said

"Thanks," Cody fell down onto his bed, "What's say we lock up the CHARIOT and get some dinner? Simon's antics always make me hungry."

"Speaking of which, where is Simon?" Kurt asked

"I put him in time-out and made him think about what he'd done."

"Hm…" Kurt approved, "You did well. Can I have my badge back?"

Cody tossed both badges to his dad.

"About the CHARIOT's confinement to this time…" Cody began

"Consider it gone," Kurt replied

/

The gang returned to their expensive dinner; Cody had a big plate of ribs, Zack and Woody had large hamburgers, Bailey had the pork chops, London had the caviar chicken, Ms. Tutweiller had a salad, and Kurt had a steak.

"So, Mr. Martin…" Ms. Tutweiller shifted closer to him, "Zack and Cody tell me you're single."

"I am," he replied, "But I should warn you, because of my bad social skills caused by extra brain matter, we could probably only go out for about three weeks before my very existence made you hate all men."

"That long?" Ms. Tutweiller was impressed

"Zack, pass the barbeque sauce?" Cody asked

Cody poured the stuff on his ribs.

/

Bailey was writing down everything she knew about Cody, to get the facts straight.

"So, your Dad is an inter-dimensional policeman," Bailey said, "You have an evil brother…"

"Half-brother," Kurt corrected, "His mom's a lounge singer from California."

"Just like mom," Cody said

"Mr. Martin, you must really like music," Woody said

"Music is rare in my dimension," Kurt explained, "We only have one instrument, only a handful of people in the dimension can play it, and even they're not very good."

"What kind of music do you like?" Ms. Tutweiller asked

"Well, when I first came here, it was the 30s, I landed bang in the middle of the Harlem Renaissance. So much jazz…I was enthralled. In '42, some of the other Delta Directors and I started a band. First it was jazz, but then…"

Kurt exhaled heavily.

"Then along came rock, in the 50s," he grinned, "All those chords, riffs, the whammy bar…wow."

/

Dessert came: chocolate cake, nothing fancy.

"I'm glad I finally know the family secret," Zack said, "All my life I've felt like something's missing, like there's so much I don't know."

"That's nothing special," Woody said, "Everyone feels that."

"Yeah, but this is different," Zack said, "I'm really glad I finally find out about who I really am."

"I promise I'll never keep anything that big from you again," Kurt said

"Thanks, Dad."

/

Zack got up to go to the bathroom. Kurt leaned towards Cody.

"So he only knows about Simon, right?" Kurt whispered

/

The End

/

Simon reached into his robe, and took out Arwin's bouncer.

"You're a fool, brother," he grinned

/

The End?


End file.
